As it once was
by Igotyourweregoinghome
Summary: Set as the last scene of one of the Sniper episodes. The one person who knows Booth better than anyone else is here to help him during a hard case. PS: This is my first fanfic hopefully i'll get better at summaries too.


**Disclaimer :**_ I, alas, don't own this show or those character._

**A/N :** _English not being my first language, don't mind the spelling errors please._

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After what seemed like a neverending day, Booth and Brennan were at the Founding Fathers sitting at their usual spot at the corner of the bar. It had been a long day for the partners, especially for Seeley Booth, the newest case was hitting a little bit too close to home. They discovered that the serial killer they were dealing with was a Sniper, that Booth once knew. Even though it rarely, if not ever, happened anymore since they returned from their 6 months long trip, Brennan had asked her partner to go get a drink, Booth had accepted saying that he was supposed to meet his girlfriend, Hannah, later on anyway.

"You know, we didn't close the case..." Booth said while taking a sip of his beer.

"I know, but we will, we always do." replied Brennan with a look at her partner who seemed fascinated with his hands.

"Right...Are you sure about this Bones?" Booth looked up at his partner with a defeated look in his eyes.

"What makes you think we won't this time? We've always been able to stop these kind of people before, i see no difference in this case. We will." Brennan tried to assure him with a hand on his forearm.

"This one is different, i..."

"No he's not." Brennan cut him "The only thing that differ from Epps or the gravedigger is that he's a Sniper, just like you were, and it makes you scared." She squeezed his arm, still not letting go of him.

"Of course i am scared, i knew the guy before! He's one of the best in our field and he's playing with me, i feel like i've..."

"Like you've been betrayed by one of your own." She said repeating the words he told her a few years back.

"Yes!" Booth answered, even though it wasn't a question. Booth's hand came rest over hers without noticing.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes, both focused on their thoughts and drinking their beers but not breaking the comforting contact of their hands. Booth looked down at them and then at his partner.

"Are you going to betray me?" He asked her, the one and only person who understood him in this hard time he was going through, the one and only person he needed by his side to make it through, to catch that traitor. He had to know if he could count on her right now.

Brennan was taken aback by his question, she posed her beer on the bar and glanced at him with her beautiful eyes, the intensity in those was too much but he couldn't bear to look away, he just waited, awkwardly, for her answer.

"No." She finally said. It was the answer he hoped for, but it made him realise that after everything that happened between them, he didn't deserve her friendship at all. He knew that she meant it and would never betray him, he couldn't help but think that unlike him she'll honor her word. He gave her a small smile while swearing to himself that from now on he'd do his best to be a better friend than he had been for the past month.

"I think i should leave now, it's been a long day." She said after pulling her hand away from his grip gently and standing up.

"Sure, thank you for...this." He said, knowing that she would understand that he was thanking her for her support.

"You're welcome, that's what partners are for right?" She gave him a genuine smile, one that broke his heart, she was truly happy that she could help him in the slightest way possible. She was about to turn around and head for the door, without thinking he called her.

"Bones!" She faced him again with a frown wondering what he wanted, without any further words he pulled her toward him, still sitting on his stool and hugged her. Brennan was surprised at first but quickly returned the gesture feeling Booth hold her closer and put his head in the crook of her neck when she did so. Brennan could feel tears coming, she did her best to keep them at bay, it had been so long since they exchanged one of those 'guy hugs' but he was scared, and that's what they did before. It felt good to find this familiarity between them again, even if it was just for one night.

After a few seconds which felt like eternity, they parted, without another word spoken but just a hopeful look on both of their faces, She resumed what she meant to do before and left. Booth was left alone, he finished his beer lost in his thoughts not even paying attention to the blonde who took over Brennan's seat.

"Earth to Seeley!" There she was, Hannah, the woman he shares his life with.

"Heyy babe!" Booth said more cheerily than he had been all day long before kissing her quickly.

"How was your day?" She said while gesturing to the barkeeper for two more beers.

"It was good, yours?" He said, well aware of his lie, but he couldn't tell her the truth, she didn't know about his past as a sniper. Unlike Bones the voice in his head added.

"Very interesting, i'm working on a juicy story.." Hannah went on to explain him every detail of said story, he was too busy thinking about how much he messed up with Bones, how their friendship took its toll because of him, basically.

"Are you sure you're okay Seeley?" Hannah said, somehow noticing he wasn't truly listening to a word she had said.

"Sure! I'm just starving i didn't have much time to eat today that's all." He winced when he felt her put her hand on his forearm just like Bones had before. Suddenly it was too much for him, he took his arm way pretending to need it to stand up and pay the bill. "What do you say we go home and order in?" He suggested with a charming smile.

Hannah nodded, she was at a lost for words. What Booth ignored is that, this woman that he pretended was not a consolation prize, had witnessed before enterring the Founding Fathers his moment with Temperance. She wasn't fooled by Seeley's act, she knew something was terribly wrong with him, what hurted her the most was to see that he lied to her when he had been so open with his partner. The intimacy of their embrace earlier or the way their hands rested upon each other's was something she realised, she had never experienced with the man she lived with. It hit her on their way 'home', she was living with a stranger, she just didn't know how true that was...


End file.
